2007 Girard Artistry

Happy Cellar Saturday!  That magical first Saturday of the month where I dig into the cellar for something at least a decade old to open and enjoy.  Lately I've been thinking about my stash of 2007 Napa Valley red wines and how it would be appropriate to spend a few Cellar Saturdays exploring how this great vintage has developed over the past dozen years.  Tonight is such a wine, with an interesting back story.  This bottle of 2007 Girard Artistry is a blend of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (61%), Cabernet Franc (13%), Malbec (11%), Petit Verdot (9%) and Merlot (6%) and the interesting back story is where I bought this bottle.  Back in 2011, when I was living in Grand Rapids, the historic 1913 Room restaurant at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel was closing to make room for a Ruth's Chris steakhouse (I know right?) any they set up a room in the lobby level of the hotel where they were selling all sorts of including the remaining contents of the wine cellar!  So I bought this bottle for $29 (the price tag is still on it) along with a few other bottles, silverware and some other souvenirs.  And 8 years later I'm opening it, so let's see how it's fared!

Let me preface this by letting you know I decanted this wine for about an hour before tasting.  The wine is a deep inky black at the center, with bright fuchsia along the edges, just as you'd expect from a Cabernet centric Napa blend.  The nose is almost Bordeaux-esque, with aromas of blackberry and currant intermingled with earthy leather, graphite and peat.  The taste is delightfully fruit forward with a rush of black cherry and currant that intermingle with some notes of mocha, black pepper spice and hints of lilac for a deep complexity.  The tannins are vibrant and expertly structured to bring body to the long, smooth and exceptionally dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a 9.5, as it was definitely worth the wait!  Certainly I recall drinking different vintages of this wine young and they were still very impressive, but this gives me some confidence that the dynamic 2007 Napa vintage is still a star.  This wine is begging for a big steak, and I will oblige with a rare grilled prime New York strip, grilled corn on the cob and bacon roasted Brussels sprouts, and I'm enjoying dinner on the patio this evening, something I haven't done much this summer!  Cheers!